


The Omnic Butler

by Baknami



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Character Study, Gen, I wanted to try something out because Tumblr said a thing, unhealthy relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-09 04:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7786348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baknami/pseuds/Baknami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Hemsworths were one of the richest, biggest families in the world, let alone Great Britain, and it was with great joy that they could put all of their resources into creating their own omnic line, something to keep the Hemsworth Company on top of their competition.</p>
<p>...Until the Omnic Crisis hit, and suddenly, their "Titanium Dandy" omnic line ended up becoming one unawoken prototype, swept under the rug and kept under wraps.  No one expected the Hemsworth heiress Phoebe to find the dusty, useless thing, nor did they expect her to demand it awoken.  She wanted an omnic, and she was going to *get* an omnic.</p>
<p>And as everyone who worked in the Hemsworth manse knew: if Phoebe wanted something, there was no use trying to say no.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Birth

**Author's Note:**

> Baknami: Can you tell me more about omnics? Like what sort of robots they are and why they're named that?  
> Baknami: I need to know for... reasons >>  
> Friend: Reasons?! :O  
> Baknami: *Reasons*  
> Baknami: I just remember a lot of people were like "Man Marquis (from Battleborn) looks so cool I wish he was in Overwatch." And I narrowed my eyes and said "This could either be amazing or terrible."  
> Friend: Yes  
> Friend: Yessssssssssss
> 
> So yeah, big thanks to my good friend who is as much of a lore whore as I am and who helped me a lot with figuring out how to Overwatch. I don't know how much people will care about this, but some other people have sort of enjoyed this, so I hope you guys do too! Who doesn't love robot butlers taking care of your every whim?
> 
> The hardest part, I found, was changing Marquis from a Battleborn Magnus to an Overwatch Omnic. They really are completely different. I like to call BB Marquis a "Saturday Morning Cartoon Villain", while OW Omnics are... well, they don't tend to go down that path unless pushed into it. So, how do you push an omnic to become a crazy butler robot?
> 
> Well, you certainly go down a different path that BB Marquis went down, that's all. Hopefully I made this one pretty believable.
> 
> (So big thanks to Friend1 for Overwatch lore, and big thanks to Friend2 for reminding me how to idiom in English.)

The Hemsworth family was a family of such prestige and money that they were practically untouchable in every way. They were a family that made its fortune many generations ago through buying and selling land, and they became a global entity when they made many advances in medical and technical science. G.R. Bartlesby Hemsworth II, the current patriarch of the Hemsworth line, was a scientist who was very interested in robotics after the announcement of the first omnics, and he sank all of his business ventures into his own line of AIs. Eventually, he was prepared to unveil his brand new, *completely stable* Hemsworth line of “Dandy AIs” designed specifically for schedule-keeping and companionship...

...And then the Omnic Crisis began. Suddenly realizing the problems that one could have if the company was associated with omnics at that point, the Hemsworth Manufactory quietly, *quickly*, swept everything under the rug and instead focused their efforts on the medical fields.

However, that left only one slight problem... before the entire enterprise was scrapped, there had been one prototype built to be revealed at the announcement of the line. The one prototype “Marquis”, the first, and last, of his kind to be made, was suddenly a strange, black mark on the Hemsworth family, who had immediately shut down all of their robotics as a gesture of “pro-human” good will.

So what to do with the prototype omnic? There was a lot of back and forth, mostly between the engineers and the Hemsworths themselves, but eventually it came down to just taking the robot and tossing it into a dark room in the back of a storage unit, where the rest of the half finished Marquises were dumped.

For a whole decade, the robot sat upon a pile of its unborn siblings' remains. It stayed that way until Bartlesby's little daughter, Phoebe Elizabeth Audelia Hemsworth IV, found the sleeping creature during her exploration of old Hemsworth facilities. The child, barely older than six, was incredibly infatuated with all things robo-technical, and she instantly fell in love with the dead, monocular eye and snappy-looking coattails that it possessed. Before she even crawled out of the dust and spider webs, she immediately set to the task of pulling out her cellphone, calling her father, and *demanding* he wake the robot up.

\---

“Now dear...” Bartlesby said softly as the maids picked cobwebs from the precocious girl's blonde curls. The servants had brought the still sleeping omnic out and placed it in a corner. It stared lifelessly at the ceiling, and everyone seemed a little put off at the “uncanny valley” vibe the thing practically radiated. It wasn't rusting, as its chassis was made entirely of titanium, but the thick layer of dust and cobwebs made it look ghastly in appearance. Phoebe's father began sweating profusely when Phoebe puffed her cheeks up like a squirrel preparing for winter; instead of getting angry, however, he tried to let his pride and joy, his heiress, down gently, “This omnic... is very old. It hasn't even been awoken. We're... not entirely sure just how it'll turn out.”

“Then let's find *out*,” Phoebe said, crossing her arms and pouting. She knew, even at such a young age, that her father couldn't say no to her pouts. “I want an omnic! I want one I want one I want one!”

There was nothing else that needed to be said. Bartlesby tried to tell his daughter that it just wasn't possible and Phoebe threw a tantrum until finally she got her way. It was only *one* omnic: what was the worst that could happen...?

And so, finally, after many years of being “defunct”, the Hemsworth Robot Manufactory was quietly opened in a much smaller workshop. The first and only Marquis was dusted, polished, buffed, waxed, and finally given one more technical check, mostly because while titanium didn't tarnish, silver definitely did. Afterwards, the Hemsworth engineers deemed the “brand new” omnic fit for duty, and before two personal engineers, Bartlesby and the tiny Phoebe, the robot was awoken.

With a long, practically agonizing first minute, the robot took awhile to acquaint itself with its processor. Finally, after a lot of whirring, the young robot opened its monocular eye, and it fell immediately on the bright bundle of energy that was Phoebe, who was bouncing up and down next to her father. Something whirred in its processing core, and it recognized that the creature was a female human. “Greetings, young miss,” it said in a hokey German accent, two decades off and obviously programmed by someone who knew very little German themself. What it was lacking in accuracy, however, it made up for in etiquette as it properly greeting the girl with an appropriate introduction, “My name is Marquis d'Caliber, and it would be my pleasure to serve you.”

Phoebe's smile widened until her face nearly cracked, and with sparkling eyes she leaped up to hug her brand new omnic butler.

\---

Marquis d'Caliber was immediately brought in as the Hemsworth butler, and Phoebe attached to him immediately, absolutely refusing to leave his side. In return, Marquis became very over-protective of her as well, even becoming somewhat of a father-figure for the child, despite the fact that, technically, she was older than him by six years. He was programmed with the knowledge to care for her, as all Marquises were intended to be caregivers, companions, and nannies. As such, he was very intelligent despite his immaturity. Because of his lack of wisdom, Bartlesby became worried for the young omnic, although he was worried more for his reputation than for the AI in question. The Hemsworths were mostly situated in the UK, and with the “situation” between humans and omnics being very tense, the last thing the Hemsworth patriarch wanted was to lose any sort of good-will he had with the British government.

As a result, Marquis was kept hidden from the outside world, with only Phoebe's private tutors and very close Hemsworth friends knowing anything about him. Even the Hemsworth heiress was treated with less scrutiny, and she was free to go and do whatever she pleased. It really was a shame the only place she wanted to be was by her “butler buddy's” side. Eventually, Bartlesby began considering ways to get Phoebe to *do* something aside from hiding in the Hemsworth estate, and finally he decided to move them to a place where Marquis and, by extension, Phoebe would be freer.

It turned out to be a good move overall: after Bartlesby shut down the Hemsworth Robot Manufactory, he focused mostly on medicine, which was done by hiring some of the best German doctors in the field. It was for that reason that Marquis was given his accent in the first place: the Hemsworths had hoped to have him be a bridge between all of the workers who spoke different languages. Not only that, but Germany seemed to understand the plight of the omnics, if only in a “don't ask, don't tell” sort of way. Therefore, most of Marquis's and Phoebe's life was spent in the Hemsworth's German villa, something that neither of them had much problem with.

It also meant that they could rub elbows with the the high society of Europe, such as the ever bright Reinhardt Wilhelm. Phoebe enjoyed his visits for tea and thought of him as an uncle. Brigitte could be a young auntie, if she was lucky, although “Auntie Brigitte” seemed to be a little more inclined to find “something else to do” whenever Reinhardt ended up visiting.

In fact, the first time he visited after Marquis's awakening was a week after her seventh birthday, and Phoebe was beside herself with excitement. When he was announced at the door by a (human) servant, the child rushed out to meet him with an excited squeal. “Uncle Reinhardt! I have something to show you!” she exclaimed when she reached him, and she extended her hands towards him in a silent plea to be picked up.

“Is zat so?” he asked, picking the little girl up and bouncing her before placing her on his shoulder, “And here I zought ze only surprise would be your birthday present!”

Phoebe, perched upon her favorite uncle's shoulder, tucked her hands under her armpits and impersonated her favorite animal, the horned owl. “Hoot hoot! An owl has no need for presents! Unless you have a mouse!”

“Zat I did not bring,” Reinhardt replied jovially, his hand supporting her as she squirmed atop his shoulder, “But I will make a note for next year, ja?”

The child giggled as Reinhardt walked them into the parlor, where Bartlesby, in one of his rare days off, met them. “Sir Wilhelm, I am pleased to have you join us today,” he said with a deep, sweeping bow.

“I apologize zat I could not come for Lady Phoebe's actual birthday party,” Reinhardt replied as Phoebe swayed to and fro, “I was... indisposed. Neverzeeless, I am zankful you allowed me to visit today.”

“Think nothing of it,” Bartlesby replied with a wave of his hand. He looked over at his daughter with all of the love a father could muster, “Phoebe would never let me hear the end of it if I couldn't have you over.”

Phoebe bounced excitedly in response. “Can we show him can we papa can we!?” she asked, kicking her legs against the giant's chest in exuberance.

Bartlesby twitched, his smile suddenly becoming a lot less honest and very much guarded. Reinhardt picked up on it immediately, and tried to keep things calm and amiable, to ease the tension. “Zere is a surprise, I hear,” he said with a warm smile, taking Phoebe and setting her down next to the tea table, “However, if you prefer to wait for anozer time, I'm sure little Phoebe will understand.”

Phoebe's glare at her father told them that she certainly would *not* understand, and her father let out a small, awkward chuckle amid his nod, “Lord Reinhardt, I know all of the wonderful work you've done with Overwatch,” he began, completely changing the subject for very little (known) reason, “Those... omnics must still be fresh in your mind.”

Phoebe immediately piped up with all of the direct authority that an heiress of a multi-trillion pound company could possess. “But not all of them are bad, right? There are lots and lots of good omnics who don't hurt people!”

Reinhardt blinked at the back-and-forth between the child and her father, and as he began putting two and two together, his eyebrow cocked ever so slightly, “...Are you going somewhere with zis?” he asked as Phoebe trotted off happily, completely ignoring her father's befuddled sputters. His eyes followed her, even as her father spoke up:

“It was nothing, really,” Bartlesby said quickly, making sure that the man knew that this wasn't the Hemsworth patriarch's idea, and he started a quick lie to keep himself from being implicated, “She found it among the garbage. I assume some, eheh, crazy engineer crafted it underneath our noses, but by the time we found him...” The two adults watched as little Phoebe dragged her robot out of hiding, “...It really was too late.”

Reinhardt stared at the omnic as it fumbled a moment (from Phoebe yanking on him) before standing up straight and immediately beginning “PROTOCOL: INTRODUCTION”. He stood up straight and held his right hand over his chest with his left hand behind his back. “Greetings, my lord. My name is Marquis d'Caliber, and it would be my pleasure to serve you.”

Reinhardt's eyes darted to Phoebe, whose eyes sparkled brighter than any time he saw her, and they zipped back up to the butler omnic before him. “Isn't he *amazing*!?” Phoebe squealed, “He's my butler buddy Mister Markee!”

Bartlesby was sweating intensely as he watched Reinhardt's expression. The elderly man stared for a long while at the (obviously) expressionless omnic, but then, finally, his face broke into a smile, “Is *zis* what you've been hiding from me zis whole time, mein fraulein? What a dapper looking friend you have here.”

Phoebe let out a squeal and threw her arms into the air (and Marquis tried to calmly reprimand her to be more ladylike in a guest's presence,) “Mister Markee is the bestest omnic ever and I love him so much!”

Reinhardt smiled at the girl as she smiled up at her butler; whatever peoples' feelings were, it was heartening to see children learning the value of love, care, and adoration. He had no doubt she would become a wonderful person if she kept these virtues close to her heart. “How old is he?” he asked the girl, addressing her as if she had shown off her favorite stuffed toy.

“I found him around my birthday last year!” Phoebe replied, rocking back on her heels as Marquis watched her like, well, an emotionless nanny-bot, “and he's the best birthday present ever! Papa let him wake up so Mister Markee is like a birthday present to me!”

“A birthday present?” Reinhardt said softly. He then looked up at Marquis, who seemed confused at the attention directed towards him, especially from someone other than Phoebe, “Why, that would make this Herr d'Caliber's birthday as well.”

Bartlesby's eyes widened in horror as Phoebe let out an ear-piercing squeal, “It does! It does, doesn't it!?” She immediately turned to Marquis, whose incredulity did not lessen one bit. “Happy birthday, Mister Markee! We have to get you a party and lots of presents too!”

“Well, dear, he's a little too young for presents...” Bartlesby began, glancing at the omnic and coughing a bit in his attempt to save face. He was fine with letting his daughter live in a delusion that omnics had *feelings*, especially one this undeveloped, but to have to play along in such an extravagant and expensive way was where he crossed the line.

...Or he would, if Phoebe weren't throwing a tantrum at being told “no”, “I want one! I want one I want-”

“Young miss, please,” Marquis said suddenly the moment Phoebe began her screams. The words of her butler calmed her just enough to listen to him, and he stared, unblinkingly, down at her, “Is this not a party of sorts? With friends who understand us? I would think... that this is zee best party I could ask for.”

Reinhardt had to hand it to the omnic. Or, perhaps, his protocol programming. It was hard to be sure at only a year old. Regardless, little Phoebe calmed down and nodded, “Yeah! Let's have a party together, today! A *tea* party!” She took Marquis's gloved hand and dragged him along behind her, despite his protestations.

“Young miss, please! I am not used to balancing at this angle...!” he whined as he flailed rather spectacularly, just before the girl released him and ordered him to sit. He looked around at Bartlesby, who probably would have popped a monocle, had he one, and Reinhardt, who seemed fairly amiable, if only for Phoebe's sake. Finally, the omnic set himself down at the table and calmly, if not worriedly, placed his folded hands on the table. “...I apologize, I have not brought everyone's tea...”

“Nonsense! Zis is your birthday party as well, Herr d'Caliber,” Reinhardt said as he settled himself down next to the omnic, a surprising move for someone who had to fight them so many years ago, “You shouldn't have to work at all today!”

Marquis was completely at a loss, and he looked up at Bartlesby immediately, his one eye silently pleading, asking what he should do. Finally the Hemsworth patriarch sighed and called for his servants, “Gerda, could you please get us some tea? It appears that Marquis is... going to take a break today.”

A break. An honest to goodness break! Marquis had not even heard the word pertaining to him in his entire year of life; he had always seen the times he had to recharge as a necessity, rather than a gift. He was trying to process things he had never had the need to process. That was, however, what being an omnic was all about, and he immediately set to the task of trying to figure out what to do with himself as Phoebe pulled up a chair, hopped into it, and smiled over at Reinhardt, “Uncle, Uncle, guess who visited me last night!?”

Marquis knew where this was going immediately, as he was the one who tucked her in last night. Mister Wilhelm, however, had a small inkling, “Does this have anything to do with all of those letters with the adorable pictures of owls?”

Marquis got to sit quietly, as he was used to doing, while Phoebe and Reinhardt talked over him, “Yep yep! Mister Owl came to visit me! He sat on a branch outside my window and guarded me from any flying aliens!”

“I keep telling you, mein fraulein, there are no such things as flying aliens,” Marquis said unflinchingly, hands still folded together as he looked down at his little lady, “And this 'Friend Owl' is only using zee light from your window to catch any disease ridden rodents. Not that there would be any, mein gardens have *absolutely no* rodents inside.”

Bartlesby and Reinhardt watched as Phoebe's eyes widened, her jaw practically dropping as, for the first time in her life, her “butler buddy” talked back to her! Her father attributed the sudden change to them actually treating the omnic with respect. Finally, however, little Phoebe regained her cognizant functions to remind her butler why her owl was *special*. “Mister Owl is strong and cool and he catches the bad rodents and...!”

Bartlesby sighed softly and turned away to address Gerda as Marquis was verbally berated by his lady. Reinhardt tried to speak up once in a while, trying to get her to calm herself, but she bulldozed right past him to tell Marquis that owls were the greatest animals ever. “They're hunters but cute and have big eyes and...”

“Very well then,” Marquis said, feeling thoroughly chastised, “I suppose I do not have zee proper appreciation for them.” It was the best way to agree to disagree, which Reinhardt assumed ran contrary to his butler programming. Phoebe's slitted eyes showed that the old man's assumptions were on the money, and Bartlesby coughed as he stirred his tea, “So, Master Reinhardt, perhaps we could talk about your world travels. I myself have been to Africa a few times, you know I do enjoy a good hunt...”

The tea party went on without too much of a hitch, mostly because Marquis seemed to have learned not to speak at all for the rest of the party. He simply sat while people talked about the weather, the daily goings-on, and other such things. Phoebe eventually got her gift of a beautiful pair of dancing shoes, as she had expressed a desire to learn soon, and eventually the day waned on to the time Reinhardt stood. “I apologize, but I think it is time for me to return home.”

Marquis seemed much more in his element as he returned to being a butler and stood up to walk to Phoebe's chair. “And I believe it is time for Lady Phoebe to prepare for bed. It is very late, after all.”

Phoebe blew a raspberry but hopped from the chair and rushed to give her uncle a hug. “Love you Uncle Reinhardt! Let's meet again another time!!”

“Of course, my dear. Please have a nice night, and be sure to watch out for any flying aliens,” the knight said fondly. Marquis let out a sigh at the very thought.

“Night night!” Phoebe cried as Marquis ushered her off to the stairs. Reinhardt stayed for a moment to speak with Bartlesby as the little lady and her butler buddy began their ascent, but Phoebe immediately began brooding, looking a little angry. “Don't appreciate owls...” she muttered under her breath.

“It is nothing,” Marquis replied, hands placed primly behind his back as he watched her walk up the stairs, “they are disease ridden little mongrels,” Phoebe's hands clenched, “they leave messes everywhere, and they are unrepentant little...”

Phoebe whirled around, her cherry cheeks replaced with an angry red tomato, “stop it stop it stop it!” she shouted, shoving on the omnic in a fit of anger. She was used to shoving on him when she was angry, and usually he would just allow her fit to continue and he'd snap back to attention like usual. However, this time, he was standing on a flight of stairs with his arms tucked behind his back. By the time he realized that his balance servos were unaligned, it was quite too late to reach out and grab the banister. “Oh dear oh dear oh dear!” he called before he tumbled, unceremoniously, down the flight of stairs.

\---

Reinhardt heard Phoebe's sudden outburst, and he turned slightly, looking a little disheartened, “Zee poor dear, she doesn't know how to respond to someone saying 'no'. I do not envy you when zat omnic begins to gain real sentience. ...Do you zink you can handle-”

The kindly old man was interrupted when Phoebe let out a fearful scream, and the adults' blood ran cold. The two of them immediately rushed into the other room, where they were able to watch Marquis's broken, sputtering body clatter down the three last steps before falling with a thud to the floor. Phoebe, at the top of the flight, continued to scream and cry, and she rushed down the stairs, “No Mister Markee I'm sorry I didn't mean to!!” Bartlesby let out a cry of his own, and years of quick reflexes let Reinhardt rush forward and collect the child before she threw herself onto the sparking omnic. “Mister Markeeeee!!!” she screamed, tears streaming down her face as she reached out for the confused butler.

“Oh my...” he muttered, spasming a bit and sounding just as incredulous as before at the party, as if he didn't understand how he came to be in this situation, “Lady Phoebe... Y-y-you're crying...” He wanted only to dry her tears, even now. “Are you hurt...? D-d-do you need assistance-tance-tance?”

“Phoebe, please, he is sparking, you might get burned,” Reinhardt warned, holding her away from the omnic as she kicked and cried, “Master Hemsworth, do you zink you might be able to find someone to repair him?”

“Repair him!?” Bartlesby cried, in a tone that suggested he didn't *want* to, as opposed to doubting it was possible.

Phoebe, however, continued to show remorse for her actions, “Mister Markee! D-does it hurt? I'm s-so sorry if I hurt you...!” she blubbered, and her butler's one eye moved to train on her.

“Hurt-t-t?” he asked just before another spasm sent a few sparks out of his shoulder.

Bartlesby made sure to remind his little daughter of the way the world worked, “You must be careful, dear, titanium is light, but it's really easy to crush like this. Thankfully, as a robot, he doesn't feel-”

“Where are the ENGINEERS!?” Phoebe screeched so loudly that Reinhardt nearly dropped her, and her father rushed off to collect someone to repair the omnic. The Hemsworth butler tried to move, but his servos and gears screamed as they tried to work after being crushed so thoroughly. Reinhardt had to raise a hand to keep him from moving any further.

“Calm yourself, Herr d'Caliber. It is a miracle you were not harmed any further than zis. Zat you can still speak is a wonder. If you were to harm yourself furzer, zee engineers might not be able to save you.”

“I-I-I am broken-ken-ken...” Marquis said, as if the realization suddenly hit. He looked at Phoebe and Reinhardt, and the way he spoke next proved that his emotions were beginning to form. He sounded *afraid*, “I am b-b...”

“No, you're not broken!” Phoebe insisted, almost pled, “You're just hurt! Papa will bring his engineers and he'll fix you!” Phoebe let out a brand new sob as the omnic's fingers scrabbled for purchase on the polished floor, like a human might do when fearful for their life.

“Bro-broken...” the omnic began after another spasm hit. He continued speaking, as if he was a broken record, until the Hemsworth robotics workers arrived and immediately began inspecting him. Phoebe let out a screech as they brought him offline, so he would be easier to move.

“Dear, please,” Bartlesby said quickly, taking his daughter from Reinhardt's arms, “They're going to make him better! He'll be good as new tomorrow, I promise!”

She sniffled softly as they carried the omnic off, as lifeless as the day she found him, and Reinhardt smiled consolingly, reaching out to place a hand on the child's head. “He'll be fine. Trust your father, and trust Marquis. He wouldn't let something like zis slow him down.”

Phoebe nodded slowly as she watched the engineers carry her butler off; she knew he never let anything slow him down in taking care of her... She reached out and clutched her father's shirt, drawing him close before nodding, and her uncle felt alright with leaving the Hemsworths be. Phoebe sat in her father's arms for a minute or two after Reinhardt excused himself, when suddenly... “He doesn't like owls,” she whispered softly.

Her eyebrows knitted in anger and determination. “...*Make* him like owls.”


	2. Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marquis begins to develop further as the years go by, but growing up is harder than one might expect for a young machine who isn't even sure what emotions are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter, mostly because the relationship between Marquis and Phoebe is interesting to me. Like most relationships in a story, each character ends up enhancing the others' background, thus furthering the realism of both of the characters. While Phoebe has many people she associates with outside of the Hemsworth family, most notably the doctors or scientists and other rich people, Marquis has very little that he interacts with or confides in. While Phoebe can go out and do whatever it is she enjoys, Marquis's whole life seems to revolve around Phoebe, whether for good or for ill. Sure, he loves other robots and fanboys over other, famous Magnuses, but they're not a part of his background, his story. In that way, Marquis is very one dimensional, and it might be a reason why people enjoy him so much; he's simple, he's got very few things on his mind, and he looks nice.
> 
> That said, it also makes Marquis very *difficult* to write, because while it's easy to write a story from the perspective of someone who has agency, it's much harder to look at what makes a character tick (haw) when his mechanical heart beats only for one thing: his lady. This is why he works better as a villain than as a hero: he's funny and interesting, but only in smaller doses, and usually only when playing off his foil. Nowadays, the greatest and most well loved villains tend to be the ones that you could read about for the entire book, and I don't see Marquis having that sort of charisma, no matter how scrumptious he looks on a cover. I am unsure if I was able to give more character to him during this chapter, but it was a challenge that I enjoyed attempting, and I hope that you, the reader, will enjoy it as well.
> 
> TL;DR: Marquis is hard to write. Sorry for the wall of text, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Marquis d'Caliber was good as new by the next morning, and the first thing he did was set to the task of returning to his lady's side. The only times he ever had to himself were after tucking her in (this time, he made sure to keep the curtains back so she could watch Mister Owl in peace). Once alone he would immediately set to the task of working down in the robotics basement, his “home”. He didn't have a whole lot of time before he had to recharge and then awaken to close the blinds so Phoebe would not be awoken by the sun, so it took a month for his project to be completed, but eventually he finished his work and showed his work to his lady.

“May I introduce...” he began, removing his bowler hat with a flourish. Slowly, gently, a tiny robotic avian head poked from its location inside the hat, and it trained its one eye (the left one, as Marquis's monocular eye was on the right side) on Phoebe, “Zee OWLBOT.PROTOTYPE MK I.” He even waved his free hand with a flourish.

Phoebe *screeched* with glee. “He's the cutest Mister Markee! I love him! Where was he hiding? He couldn't have fit in your hat while it was on your head!”

“Ah ah!” Marquis said mysteriously, wagging a chastising finger at his little lady, “A magician never reveals his secrets!” he proclaimed.

“It's MAGIC!!” Phoebe squealed, reaching up to pet the robotic owl. It released a tiny mechanical “hoot” in response to the pets, “He should be Mister Hoodini!”

Ah. A joke. Marquis was beginning to appreciate them aesthetically, despite his youth. “Very well then, zee Hoodini Mk I!”

Phoebe could have asked why there was a sudden change of heart, but it was quite obvious: her father knew exactly what to do to make her happy. She had absolutely no problems with forcing this change in Marquis, as now her butler buddy was even *more* perfect! As a result, the two became even closer. She sometimes even followed him to his workbench and watched him work on the newest mark of his line of Hoodinis. This let the butler have a lot of time to experiment with new ideas and upgrades for his little robot owls. The two of them were even more inseparable, which was actually helpful for Phoebe's many tutors, as Marquis was the only one who could get her to calm her rages.

Not everything was sunshine and roses, however. Marquis was beginning to realize that his new-found sentience was more of a hindrance than a boon. His emotions came suddenly and in flashes, and he found that he didn't know how to keep them in check. As a result, there were times when he would get angry at the other workers, especially when Phoebe was angry and his overprotective streak kicked in. Once, some of the cooks took too long to make the little lady her dessert, and she threw such a tantrum that Marquis strode into the kitchen and chased everyone out with a frying pan before cooking up some caramel pudding himself. Most of the workers quit after that, partially because Marquis nearly struck someone, *mostly* given the fact that he was a crazy, enraged omnic, and no one wanted any part of that.

It eventually got bad enough that Marquis was the only worker at the mansion, which suited him just fine. No one else could care for Phoebe as well as he could, so he refused to let anyone else work in the house. No one could even fight against him, for he answered only to Phoebe and her father. In fact, the only person he feared was Bartlesby, who would probably dismantle him if his little lady ever came to any harm.

Phoebe, meanwhile, was having troubles of her own “fitting in” to “normal” society. She was enrolled in the best dance school money could buy, and when she first entered the dance hall, she did so with a sword she snuck in from home (obviously with Marquis's knowledge, it wasn't like he could say “no” to her cherubim face). She then proceeded to chase the other children around, waving her weapon with a cackle. That was basically dancing, right!?

She was furious when Marquis sadly mentioned that the owners said she wasn't allowed in any of the dancing schools, and that she would have to learn on her own. “It's not like I wanted to be a dancer *anyway*,” she sniffled, rubbing at her red nose. She wanted to be a *scientist*, a doctor, like her hero, Dr. Ziegler. In fact, she was already preparing for the day she would inevitably enter medical school! What else did Dr. Ziegler do besides do surgery, after all? So what better way to learn how to do surgery than dissection? Thank goodness she had a pet rabbit that was *completely boring* and should prove useful in other ways...

When Marquis found her in the gardens, holding a butcher knife and wearing a dress covered in blood, he actually got *scared*. For a moment, he thought that it was *hers*. “Young miss! What happened!?” he shouted.

Phoebe looked up from her dissection and waved her knife at the corpse with a smile, all while Marquis stared at her with a gaping jaw, “Come see how small his heart is!”

“You killed Mister Fluffles!?” Marquis screeched, horrified.

“Why do you care?” Phoebe asked, “Owls eat rabbits anyway; it's not like this is anything wrong. Are you scared?” She looked up and smiled wickedly, waving the bloody knife at her butler, “Are you frightened of a widdle girl...?”

“Pah, hardly!” Marquis muttered, eyeing the blood on her clothes a little warily, “I am frightened of your parents. If they caught you looking like this, they would dismantle me!”

“No they wouldn't, I'd tell them not to,” Phoebe said nonchalantly before going back to her “work”.

Marquis bent at the waist, made a snorting sound and extended a gloved hand. “Young miss, I simply must ask, nay, *order* you to return zee knife to me, or else.”

Phoebe let out a small, snorting laugh of her own as she looked up derisively at her butler. “Or else *what*?” she asked, her lips curling deviously. She waved the knife around as if to *prove* her authority over her butler. Marquis sputtered, and she crowed, “Well? Spit it out, *omnic*!”

Omnic. The word one would use to remind him of his *place*. She had grown a lot in the four years they lived together, and she had begun to learn just how little power they had. Marquis stared as she grinned traitorously at the robot that had been both her father and brother the past four years. “How... *dare you*, young miss.”

“Maybe I'll cut *you* open and dissect you!” she cackled, swiping at her butler and watching him recoil. The power she held over him was intoxicating, and she wanted *more*. She even ignored his trembling hands, mistaking them for fear, “What are you gunna do about it, huh!?”

Marquis slapped that smile off of her face, backhanding her so hard that she fell to the dirt. The omnic let out a roar that caused Phoebe to scream, and he fell upon her to wrench the knife from her hand. “Marquis, Mar-Marquis!” she screeched as he held a hand on her shoulder, kept her to the ground, and lifted the bloody knife over her. She filled her lungs with air and demanded in the most authoritative voice she could muster: “Marquis, stop that this *instant*!!!”

The omnic froze the moment she finished, and he immediately released her, holding the knife close to his chest, “Oh... Oh my, oh my, my lady, I'm so-so-so sorry, I didn't mean... I...”

Phoebe jumped up and rushed into the house with a call, “Dad!!!” she screamed, and Marquis dropped the knife to the ground in horror at what he had done, and what would soon happen, “Dad! Marquis just tried to *kill* me!” Marquis immediately turned around and rushed off to hide.

The Hemsworths found the omnic in the basement corner next to his workshop, and he stood straight and true and *rigid*, surrounded by his flock of Hoodinis. Each one stared at Bartlesby and Phoebe as she, still in her bloodied dress, pointed at the robot, which, despite his fear, refused to cower before his family. “Am... am I going to be shut down...?”

Phoebe walked up to him, passing right by every Hoodini without even worrying, and she thrust a finger up right under Marquis's titanium beard, “Know this, omnic. Your every sentient second is because *I* woke you up. Your very *life* is dependent upon my word. You are *nothing* without me.”

Marquis's one eye stared down at Phoebe, his mental processors whirring as he thought about his first moments of life. It was completely true, and the fact that he did something so horrible as *assault* her... he didn't know why he wasn't decommissioned this very moment. “Young miss, you know I am...”

Phoebe bulldozed over him, as she was wont to do. “You are *never*. To go against my words again. Is. That. Clear?”

There was nothing that needed to be said. There was nothing he wanted to say. To live a life without his lady would be to live a life without meaning. “It will be as you say, young miss.”

Phoebe's eyes narrowed into slits and she studied her butler, but she finally turned around and stalked off, satisfied that her “butler buddy” would never again talk back to her as long as she lived.

\---

Many years came and went with very little event, and Lady Phoebe Audelia Hemsworth IV grew into a beautiful young woman, turning twenty-four with a bright mind and a sharp wit. Her wit was almost as sharp as her sword, which was why everyone avoided the crazy woman in the mansion on the hill in the south-eastern German Alps. It got to be so bad that Bartlesby, satisfied that she would be able to take care of herself, moved away himself to return to London and work on fully devoting his time to the Hemsworth company. For three years, Marquis and Phoebe lived on their own, attempting to get her inducted into the finest medical academies in the world. Unfortunately none of the academies accepted Phoebe's credentials; all of her tutors were traitorous and quick to say that she was a monster who lashed out at anyone who disagreed with her. No one wanted to deal with her, not for all of the billions of pounds she offered, especially because the *omnic* was a part of the package.

Phoebe immediately decided to get another tutor, but there was only one slight problem; the one tutor that Phoebe so desperately desired, Dr. Ziegler, seemed to be too busy to respond to her demands to meet with her. The only person who Dr. Ziegler would reply to was Marquis's emails, where he begged her not to come. _“If you come,”_ he “wrote” in the file stored in his recently-upgraded hard drive (Obviously installed by Phoebe, as if any other organic was fit to handle anything that came from his immaculate personage), _“Then Lady Phoebe may rely on you more than I.”_ He couldn't stand the fact that he might not be the most important thing in his lady's life. She was the only good thing in his life, and he wouldn't lose it.

Dr. Ziegler was surprised that he was still operational, especially since Mr. Hemsworth always made sure to deny ever having an omnic on staff, despite the fact that all evidence pointed straight to the butler being from Hemsworth's Manufactory. Apparently the “official” statement was that Phoebe asked a rogue engineer to build him and that Bartlesby wanted nothing to do with him. When Marquis confided in the doctor about the circumstances of his birth, she became much more open, if only to give the omnic some taste of the outside world. A stifled mind would be a detriment in the long run, after all, and the poor young robot's processor was already stunted so. _“You have no need to worry, Herr d'Caliber,”_ she replied to his mail, _“I have no intention of tutoring your lady. Lady Hemsworth may have the mind for medicine, but she clearly does not have the *maturity* for it, something I assume her father did very little to foster.”_

Marquis was happy that he could keep his lady to himself, but he had another grievance he was afraid to bring up to Phoebe, and instead confided to the doctor about, _“My lady also is an excellent roboticist. She is the one who maintains both my chassis and my workings. She loves omnics very much, and I share her love for us mechanical creatures. We are, after all, perfect beyond all measure. ...I am afraid, however, that she wishes to take it a step further. As a human, she is *not* perfect, and she would like nothing more than to become like I am.”_ He was beginning to understand that Phoebe's medical studies were to prepare for the day when she would make *herself* a machine. _“...I am unsure if this is wise. It has never been accomplished before, has it not?”_

Dr. Ziegler was vague about the details surrounding humans turned cyborg, but she agreed with the Hemsworth butler, _“Life in all forms is a gift we should not squander. Her own body can heal its own wounds, given time, and human minds grow and mature faster than omnics. I have no doubts that after eighteen years of life, you still have a lot to learn.”_ Marquis wasn't sure what to think of that; he didn't have many other humans or omnics to compare himself to. He already could wait on Phoebe hand and foot, so what else did he need to know? _“That said, if she will not listen to reason, perhaps it is best to help her focus on something else. The more she thinks about what she cannot have, the more she will become obsessed with it. If you can find her something else to devote her energy to, perhaps she could...”_

“Marquis!” The butler snapped from his fifteen-thousanth reading of Dr. Ziegler's mail and turned to address Phoebe as she approached from her study, her work apron covered in rust-colored blood and formaldehyde, “Has Dr. Ziegler returned my summons?”

Marquis could not lie to his lady any longer, but he was beginning to find loopholes. *Technically*, the mail was for *him*, and therefore it was with good conscience that he could tip his bowler hat and shake his head, “I'm afraid not, madam. Perhaps she is busy.”

Phoebe crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, peering up into the omnic's eye as if trying to find some sort of lie within, “Is that so...? Didn't you tell her how *important* it is!? It doesn't matter if it's actually a matter life or death, just say it is!”

Marquis was glad he could not sweat, which was yet another reason why robots were better than humans, “I did, mein fraulein, however, she is zee most well regarded physician alive, is she not? She must be in high demand, especially given her former organizational ties.”

“I don't care if *other* people want to speak with her! No one is *that* important, I can't...” Phoebe stopped when something began buzzing, and the woman pulled off her gloves to pull out her phone and read off the name. A smile appeared on her face and she immediately answered it, “Namaste, Vaswani! I assume you got my request? Can you do it?”

Marquis returned to searching the internet for something that Phoebe could focus on while he eavesdropped at the same time. “Yes, yes, I know, I can get the funds. Marquis knows all of Father's passwords, after all.” It wasn't like it was hard to hack them; before Bartlesby had left Germany, Marquis was given all of the passwords for safekeeping (mostly because Mr. Hemsworth couldn't take the time to remember them himself), and surprise surprise, even after all of these years, the Hemsworth CEO never managed to change them past a few numbers here or there. “So? Can you get my cadavers?”

Marquis found something interesting; an omnic meeting was being held in Stuttgart, only five hours by car from their manse. He had never driven before, but he was programmed to be able to. As long as they weren't caught, it would be simple. “I told you!” Phoebe said, voice rising a little, “I need thirty of them, and *this* time make sure they're properly preserved! The last ones I had went bad because they didn't have enough formaldehyde! ...Look I *know* you're not in the business for cadavers, but it *happens*, right? Vishkar needs money, and I need cadavers. That's what business *is*, although I doubt you would even understand...”

Marquis watched the back of Phoebe's head as she and Satya began a back and forth until finally there was an ultimatum. “Very well then, if you cannot get all of them to me now, then bring them to me as they are made. ...Oh, yes, calling *me* callous is a really cute joke. And I know you don't need to be told, but make sure that they're people that won't be misse- yes, yes I *know* you know. I'm *reminding* you. Yes. Fine. Fine. Yes. Bye.” She hung up and let out an angry scream. “That stupid imbecile, telling *me* what to do! I cannot even believe she thinks she has any sort of...” She looked up at Marquis, who was blinking at her softly, and she narrowed her eyes again, knowing that look meant something, “What do you want?”

Marquis was unsure just how to broach the subject. “I was... looking at something vee could do together. ...it has been... a while since vee have been able to...” he trailed off, noticing that Phoebe's lips were pursed.

“What could you even want to do?” Phoebe insisted, crossing her arms, “Don't tell me you're *bored*. What about your plans for that silly cane of yours?”

“...It isn't 'silly',” he replied, a little hurt, “and I have been working on it day and night. You're always so busy. Can't vee have just vahn day off?” A break, like on their birthday?

Phoebe drummed her fingers on her arm, thinking for a long moment before she sighed. “Okay, fine. It's not like I have any cadavers to work with right now. I assume you have a plan then?” she asked, smiling up at her butler. It was a smile that never ceased to melt her butler's servos, even after all of these years of living together. There was no better family he could ever ask for.

“Well, I have been searching, and I found something interesting in Stuttgart. There is an omnic rally being hosted tomorrow. Perhaps I could drive us there?”

Phoebe cocked her head, her face furrowed in concentration, “Tomorrow? Really? But D.Va is going to be streaming another battle tomorrow. You know I can't ignore a good death mecha bout!”

Marquis narrowed his eye in a scrutinizing manner. He disliked the death mecha matches because his lady seemed far *too* happy about them. He didn't like the way her titillated sighs and wistful moans sounded. “Can't you watch it on zee way down? I'll be zee one driving, after all.”

Phoebe crossed her arms under her chest and eyed her butler up and down, “Well, you've never really been outside of the mansion. Are you sure you can even drive?”

“Puleez,” Marquis drawled loudly, faux hurt in his voice, “As if I could not just download zee rules of zee road and read it in less than a second.”

His lady sighed good-naturedly and shrugged with a sly smile, “Well, that's my butler,” she crooned, patting his cheek twice before moving to get undressed. She would have to bathe for a *long* while if she wanted to keep from stinking of formaldehyde. For the first time in a while, Marquis felt some amount of joy. He would be able to go outside and see the world with Phoebe, and if he was lucky, he could get her to give up on this fanciful idea of becoming robotic. ...He came to love her as a human, and he couldn't imagine her any other way...

...Although, if she had some cute little lamplight eyes that glowed a golden... No! She was fine the way she was!

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told my friend that Phoebe likes death mechas and tried to hit on one of the Battleborn simply for riding in one, and my friend asked if Phoebe would try to hit on D.Va.
> 
> I realized that *yes*, she probably would watch every single one of D.Va's streams and wistfully sigh about how she would want to ride in one of her death mechs. This is Alternate Universe Canon now, I guess, if that amounts to anything :V


	3. Paradise Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phoebe and Marquis make it to the "bad" side of Stuttgart, where the omnics are forced to live. There they meet a few people who teach Marquis about life in many different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured this should be worth noting to anyone who might not actually play Battleborn, but Phoebe is a playable character in that game. She takes on the role of assassin and zoner, keeping people away from key points while teleporting and body blocking an enemy from escaping. She is a force to be reckoned with, sometimes even more than Marquis. I do seem to recall she was stupidly overpowered in the beta, and now that she's been nerfed, every Phoebe player cried and gouged their eyes out of their socke- okay no that part prooobably didn't happen. Anyway, fun facts and all.
> 
> Another thing that I should point out is that this is before "Recall", that is, the members of Overwatch haven't come back together after disbanding about 20 years ago.

The next day, Marquis arose bright and early, just like he was used to, and he prepared Phoebe's going out clothes for the first time in six years. He was giddy with excitement; he even made sure to wax his waistcoat to a mirror shine and bring his brand new cane. If there was a dapper contest, there was no doubt Marquis would win it.

Phoebe walked out of her room in her walking dress and mary-janes designed specifically for standing long periods of time, and she smiled appreciatively at her butler. “You're looking like you planned this for years, dear.”

“I... have been hoping to leave zee mansion for a few years, just to zee what is out there,” Marquis replied, “Honestly, I am a little jealous of your ability to leave whenever you want.”

Phoebe crossed her arms and snorted, “It's really not all that great. Other people are stupid and degenerate, can you even imagine getting touched by their filthy homeless hands? Getting their oily fingerprints all over you?” Marquis looked down at his waistcoat, and he felt something like sickness at the very thought. Fingerprints? On *his* spotless clothing? The abject *horror*. No wonder Phoebe didn't like socializing with living humans.

“Well... hmmm,” Marquis said softly, “At least vee will be able to zee other omnics. ...It will be zee first time I see any.” He looked down at his lady and cocked his head, “It cannot be that bad, can it?”

Phoebe shrugged and walked off so gracefully that she looked like she was gliding across the floor. At least she seemed to have a bounce to her step. “Well, let's play this by ear then, shall we?” she asked, making sure that her butler was following her before heading outside.

The car ride was uneventful, given that most of the time was just Marquis navigating the winding mountain streets on the way to Stuttgart while Phoebe watched her favorite streamer D.Va and sighed wistfully once in a while. After the battle finished (D.Va won, of course, as if there was any contest) she opened up her logbook and began to make notes. She mumbled softly to herself about how to make something work on flesh, but Marquis wanted to make sure that he didn't crash and devoted all of his processing power to staying alive instead of his usual eavesdropping. They didn't speak much, although Marquis felt that he didn't need to be able to talk; they were close enough that it wasn't necessary.

Stuttgart wasn't as crowded as Marquis expected it would be, although he suspected it was because this was the poorer side of town. Phoebe commented on it with an annoyed snort; the place was absolutely *filthy*, “Should have assumed anything to do with omnics would be in the bad side of town...”

“All omnics must live like this...?” Marquis asked as he stepped out of the car, tipped his hat just right, and jogged over to let his lady out. The two hadn't touched for seven years, and it was a little strange to have her take his gloved hand as he helped her out of the car. He knew from his initial programming all those years ago that it was how people helped their ladies, but this was the first time it had ever been necessary for him to do so.

“There was a reason Father kept you at the mansion, dear,” Phoebe said as she removed any creases in her clothes, “Omnics are still second class citizens in most parts of the world. Most people don't even think you deserve rights.”

Marquis suddenly felt intense pity for his people. He couldn't even imagine living in such squalor. He'd want someone to just put him out of his misery. ...Perhaps Phoebe was doing her part to remove the detritus from the world. Honestly, she was probably doing them a favor at this point.

Nevertheless, they had come all this way and there was no way Marquis wasn't going to see this speaker. The two found their way to the small, locally maintained park, where other omnics and a few humans sat around a serene, foreign looking omnic who spoke to the people with a calm tone that made him seem radiant. Marquis had read about him when he was looking online; this was the guru known as Tekhartha Zenyatta, and already, Marquis felt himself being drawn to the gentle movements and words of the kind omnic.

Marquis didn't sit with the other omnics, mostly because he had dressed up smartly and he was *not* going to get dirt on his clothes, but he stood at attention and watched the people speak among themselves. Phoebe, meanwhile, got very bored *very* quick, and set to the task of chatting up the super cute robot who stood near Zenyatta. He was even *Japanese*, and anyone who knew anything knew that that was hot.

The meeting was soft and quiet, and mostly it just involved people asking questions about how to bring about peace to the world and other such things. Marquis himself had very little to ask about, but Zenyatta's calm demeanor was enough to keep him around for a long while, even when most of the other omnics went on their way home. It was late enough that they didn't want to be caught out at night, although it was hard to tell if they were afraid of cutpurses or the police. To be honest, Marquis didn't doubt that it was both of them. Thankfully, he had Phoebe and the Hemsworth name to keep him relatively safe, and Phoebe was having a lot of fun talking to Mr. Shimada. Marquis took the time to approach Zenyatta with a humility he never showed anyone but his family. “Herr Zenyatta...? I would... like to ask a question.”

Zenyatta looked up from his place on the floor, and he regarded the Hemsworth butler gently, “May I help you, my friend?”

Marquis looked at Phoebe, who seemed to be busy and wasn't listening to the conversation, and he turned back to the guru and removed his hat in reverence. “I hope so. I am... wondering about... something.” He found himself to be rather inarticulate, and did not like the feeling, “How do you... live? How do all omnics live like this?” The more he thought about how bad things were, the more he wondered how they could even go on.

Zenyatta noticed Marquis's clothes, the gold filigree on his cane, and immediately realized the real question behind his words. “Material possessions are ones we all have trouble leaving behind. It is a desire we all must combat, as there are things more important than all of the money in the world.”

Marquis would have laughed out loud if he was not so confused. If money was not important, then why did everyone who lived in such squalor look so sad and unhappy? “I-I do not understand, what else could be so important...?”

Zenyatta continued after cocking his head ever so slightly. “Kindness, community, love... To name a few.”

Marquis was unsure just how something so insubstantial could make one happy, but he did know that the times he was happiest was when his lady showered him with attention. Community did seem pretty important. But love seemed... The omnic butler looked up at Phoebe when a particularly traitorous thought entered his mind. Nevertheless, he could not help but voice it. “Mein herr, I have another question. ...What if... zee recipient of that love does not... ...return it...?”

Zenyatta followed Marquis's eye and saw Phoebe, who had not even noticed that Genji was completely ignoring her attempts to flirt. “Perhaps you need a change of venue...? I have a feeling you have spent most of your life with your family. Have you lived outside of their influence before?”

Marquis would have popped a monocle, if it wasn't permanently attached to his face, “Of... Of course not! Mein Fraulein... if I left her, then...!”

Phoebe immediately heard Marquis's voice rise in pitch, and she was instantly at his side. “What is it, Marquis? What are you talking about, *leaving*? Who said...”

“Calm yourself, Lady Hemsworth,” Genji said as he approached to stand next to his master, “My master was just speaking metaphorically. Your butler seems to be very attached to his family, but perhaps it would be best if he learned to think on his own. What say you?”

“I *say* that you should mind your own damn business!” Phoebe declared, placing her hands on her hips as Marquis placed his hat back upon his head, “Marquis is *mine* and nothing you say or do can sway him from his work!”

Zenyatta stood so quietly that Marquis almost didn't notice his movement, and he raised a hand in peace, “I apologize, Lady Hemsworth. I did not mean to upset you. However, for someone who seems to care for the omnic plight, you seem very intent on claiming ownership on someone who should be seen as...”

“Marquis is *nothing* without me! He is *mine* and I shall not hear *another word* of this!” Phoebe then snapped to glare at her butler, who jumped at her furious face, “Marquis, we're leaving!”

Marquis watched as she turned and walked off without even checking if he was following her. She trusted him enough to follow her no matter where she went or what she said. The butler watched her for a moment before turning to look at the two other robots. Zenyatta's eyes seemed to plead with the young omnic, but Genji moved very little. He knew the look that the butler possessed, and he shook his head when the Hemsworth butler turned to follow her with a muttered agreement. “Mein fraulein, I'm so sorry, I should not have spoken with Herr Zenyatta like that.”

Phoebe pursed her lips at Marquis's title for the omnic, but she regarded her butler amiably, “It's not your fault, dear. You couldn't have known they'd be so *wrong* about you. Besides, I need to head home anyway. I haven't been able to do a *thing* with my temporal distorter.” She took out a rather large pocket watch and clicked it open. It didn't actually possess any hands on it, so Marquis recognized it immediately.

“My lady!” Marquis cried, practically moving to snatch it from her hands. She drew away and clutched it closer to her with a warning look, “That is... you brought it with us!? But it's dangerous! You have not perfected it!”

“I'm not planning on *using* it,” Phoebe insisted, snapping it back closed, “I just thought I could tweak it a little while you were flirting with your new boyfriend.” ...Pot, meet kettle.

Marquis looked a little disappointed when he tried to explain the danger, “My lady, you know that it isn't safe. Vee know that it won't hurt other omnics, but zee temporal dome breaks down any cells in an organic's body. Don't go pointing that thing at anyvahn!”

Phoebe practically pouted. “Psh, I know *that*, I'm not a child! When was the last time I pointed anything dangerous at someone's face?”

Marquis didn't even miss a beat, “Yesterday.”

“Well YOU'RE not going to get hurt from some window cleaner in your eye! I was doing you a *favor* anyway!” Marquis turned away and let out an exasperated sigh. It was a filthy lie anyway; his eye didn't need any cleaning *at all*.

Perhaps it did, however, because while the two were arguing among themselves, they didn't actually notice that they were being surrounded in an alleyway. Marquis immediately straightened up when one of the men kicked a can out of the way, and he turned to see that there were two people behind them, while Phoebe took stock of three in front of them. Their leader stepped forward and spoke to them in German, which was something that she only knew a passing amount of. She certainly caught that they were being mugged, which was just “precious”. She laughed out loud in reply. “Do you hear this, Marquis? Can you believe they're actually trying to *mug* us? As if I carry *any* money on me anyway!”

Marquis seemed just as unruffled as his lady. “Please, mein fraulein, you needn't even acknowledge that a person below your station is speaking to you. Allow me.” He took one step forward and lifted his left hand to shoo the men away. “Off you go now. Before vee get angry. Shoo!”

The man slammed his bat down on the omnic's wrist, and Marquis shouted in horror as his hand flopped uselessly down; his wrist emitted sparks when he tried to use it, and he recoiled when a terrifying memory resurfaced in his mind. He raised his cane in his right hand and Phoebe let out an indignant shout. “Why you little degenerate homeless ruffian *creeps*!” she screamed, grabbing at a bottle in a can next to her. The muggers blinked incredulously as she slammed it against the wall, shattering it into a deadly cutting weapon, and she pointed it directly at the three before her. “How *dare* you! I will teach you a lesson in *pain* for even *touching* my butler!”

“My lady. My lady, I'm hurt, I'm hurt...!” Marquis said softly, as if he couldn't believe it. “My lady...!”

Phoebe charged in with a primal yell that the muggers were definitely not expecting. It seemed like they were hoping for the “Crying and pleading” type of victims, and when the woman attacked they fanned out with fearful shouts. Marquis looked up at the two in front of him, who pushed forward to help keep their friends from being horribly murdered by a *very angry Hemsworth*. Marquis immediately began scouring his head for some way to protect himself, and the only thing that came up was Bartlesby Hemsworth's personal addition to his processors: “Well, I always do enjoy a good hunt.”

The butler raised his cane, pointed it straight at the man's head, and shouted “BANG!” as loud as he could.

...Yeah in retrospect that was not the best plan. The most he could do at that point was wave his cane about mostly ineffectually, although it kept one of them from passing him immediately.

Phoebe seemed to be holding her own as well, as one of the men began screaming and *she* began laughing, possibly at all the blood, and that could only mean that she was cutting them into ribbons at that very moment. Marquis immediately began retreating to get to her side. Eventually they would be able to sneak through the screaming, horrified muggers and get back to their car.

However, no plan ever made it past its inception, because the moment he turned to look at his lady, he saw one of the men come up with a plank of wood salvaged from the alley, and the Hemsworth butler watched in horror as it connected with Phoebe's temple. She slammed into a wall before sliding down it. Everyone froze when they saw the blood that lingered on the wall where her head hit.

“My lady! MY LADY!” Marquis screamed, rushing to her side just as his mind began processing the various medical information he was preprogrammed with. He reached out to cradle her body in his arms, and he trembled, terrified, at the blood that trickled down her mouth and nose. “No, no... No please no, no, wake up! My lady, my lady, please! Phoebe, don't do this to me!”

He heard them behind him, as they began shouting at each other. Apparently killing people, especially high class Hemsworths, was not on their list. “What the hell are we gunna do!?” they shouted in German.

“You idiot! You're wearing gloves, right? Who *else* doesn't have any fingerprints?”

Everyone turned to the pleading omnic, who appeared to have forgotten that there were other people around him. The killer dropped his weapon, and the five immediately rushed off and left the omnic to his mourning.

“My lady, my lady...” he whispered, completely ignoring the fact that she was bleeding all over his newly waxed clothing. The rational part that he was born with told him that there was nothing he could do. She was lost the moment she hit the wall. The cold calculations told him that there was nothing that could be done, but the part of him that had slowly grown over eighteen years could not fathom just what had happened. To lose his sister, his one and only friend, so quickly... he couldn't... he... he... “Phoebe...”

He held her a little tighter, and she flopped lifelessly against him. He watched as her pocket watch fell from her breast pocket, and the young omnic looked down at it with a curious face. He reached out and picked it up in his bloodied white gloves before attaching it to his own breast. “...Shall vee go then, mein fraulein...?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how do you make an omnic go as insane as a magnus severed from the Magna Carta? ...You take the one thing he loves in life and then you brutally fridge her. It's all downhill from here, folks, but on the bright side(?), I bet that means Overwatch is going to come strolling in. It only took more than half of the entire story, that's normal.
> 
> Now, let's engage PROTOCOL.HOBO_ERADICATION, shall we...?


	4. Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lady Phoebe is found dead, and her butler is suspiciously absent. Hey kids! Can you find the killer within three guesses? The first two don't count!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just wanted to make mention that I am sorry but apparently Phoebe's father isn't actually Bartlesby and I am the worst lore person ever. Her father's name is Bartholomew? Apparently? Which is weird because there's an entire lore about Bartlesby requesting the building of Marquis, and Bartholomew gets literally a throwaway line in Phoebe's lore. It just feels strange. Who is Bartlesby? A cousin? An uncle? Who knows!
> 
> But eh at this point we're already in crazy AU where Francesco Drake (Aka "EL DRAGON!!") was never a Hemsworth bodyguard, so I'll just pretend Phoebe's some other jerk's spawn. They both start with B, so they're practically the same person already!

The news became worldwide and instantly went viral the moment it hit the internet. The day that an omnic rally was held in Stuttgart, a young woman, the *Hemsworth heir*, was found dead just a few meters away from the park that the meeting took place. What was worse was that former Hemsworth houseworkers immediately came out saying that Lady Phoebe Elizabeth Audelia Hemsworth IV had an omnic butler who went *suspiciously* missing the moment they found her body. After a thorough search of the Hemsworth German manse, they found evidence that suggested that there indeed was an omnic that had lived there, but the place looked to have been ransacked. Many items seemed to have been collected as if in a hurry, and there were plans that were found for various robotic items that clearly were *not* in the area now.

Message boards went crazy with the information: “Obvs the butler did it! Don't u reed any mysteries lol!?”

“Guys let's not assume things, the things stolen from the manse weren't what Hemsworth was killed with. We can't just blame everything on robots.”

“Any1 have a captcha? I found a bot lmao!”

The media didn't make it easier on omnics either. News stations and reporters were quick to point fingers at the “obvious” angle, and they immediately moved to ask Bartlesby about the omnic, so much so that the Hemsworth CEO had to go on television and explain just what had happened. “My wife and I are still mourning the loss of our only child. This is a trying time for all of us, and we...”

“But what about the Marquis omnic line that your former employees have spoken out about?” The female reporter with a smile that was obviously trained and a body that was obviously plastic asked, “They said even though you shut down the line, you had one of them brought online. He was your daughter's butler, was he not? He was close to her and never left her side, and now he suddenly has disappeared? Where is he, Mr. Hemsworth? Can you answer that?”

“That omnic was completely harmless!” Bartlesby nearly squawked, the stress and sadness making him speak out of turn, “And even if he wasn't, it wasn't Hemsworth Manufactory that approved of him. We have nothing to do with...” He paused softly when he noticed that the reporter was receiving breaking news directly into her ear.

“It appears that we have someone attempting to get in touch with our station. We're trying to get a name, but...”

Apparently the reporter was taking too long and the man hacked the station anyway. The voice that filled the room caused Bartlesby to cower in his chair, despite the singsong tone: “Well hellooooo, London! How is everyvahn today!?”

“Who is this? What have you done?” the reporter demanded.

“You were looking for zee vahn and only Marquis Hemsworth-d'Caliber Esq. were you not? Well, look no further! And to think that you were going to talk about me behind mein back! Poor form, dear masters! Poor form!”

“Is this really the omnic Marquis Hemsworth? We have some questions for you!” the reporter called as other members of the station tried to find ways to track where the call was coming from.

“He is *not* a Hemsworth!” Bartlesby insisted worriedly, hoping that he wouldn't be implicit in this.

“Oh, now *that* is a voice I have not heard in a long, long time. How *is* London, Master Hemsworth? I suppose it would be wonderful without a child to care for! Thank *goodness* you have an omnic who can care for your children for you!”

The reporter completely ignored the back and forth between the Hemsworths and instead focused on trying to get more information out of the omnic. “Mr. d'Caliber, were you angry that your 'family' denied you the rights you believe omnics should have?”

“Well well, if it isn't zee sound of zee less fortunate!” Marquis began, addressing the woman as if she were little more than an insect. He didn't reply to her question, however, as he had a message to convey and he wasn't going to be dissuaded in his task, “You will notice that mein fraulein is not with me today. Neverzeeless, she was able to teach me vahn very important lesson about this world.”

“What did you do to my Phoebe, you psychopath!?” Bartlesby shouted, pounding his fist on the table.

Marquis didn't seem to acknowledge that there was a problem with his lady, and continued unabated, “I have learned that this vorld is filled with filth and detritus, the likes of which I was unaware of before. I have decided that there is only vahn way to clean this world of that filth.”

“What sort of filth are you talking about?” The reporter asked, trying to get him to speak as long as possible. Bartlesby's face began to pale when he realized just what Marquis was insinuating.

“Lady Phoebe was damaged by deranged hobos and hobomorphic entities,” Marquis said matter-of-factually, “and I am prepared to end all of zee filth from this world until I have not only avenged my lady, but also removed every piece of grime from this dusty brown planet.

“Please have a good day, peons.” And there was silence. Bartlesby stared at the ceiling as the reporter tried to keep the sense of dread off of her face as she turned back to the camera.

“Well then... I would like everyone to remain calm. I'm sure the German police will keep everything under control and that there won't be any problems. We here at BBC are already doing what we can to find where this *clearly* deranged omnic was calling from, and I assure you that everyone will stop at nothing to find him.”

\---

“...And I assure you that everyone will stop at nothing to find-” Brigitte turned off the television and glared at the screen. Reinhardt let out a frustrated and pained groan, running his hand through his hair. “I told you this was going to happen,” Brigitte said softly, turning to her good friend, “The Hemsworths were not good guardians for him, and...”

Reinhardt interrupted her with a deep, hard sigh. “I know what you mean, but I am unsure what I should have done...” he said mournfully, scratching furiously at his beard, “To take him from the house would be like dragging a child from their home without any good reason. I should have kept a closer eye on them.”

Brigitte didn't say much to that. They were busy, and they both knew it. It wasn't like they could just hound the Hemsworth mansion day and night when there were others who needed a real hero. As much as she hated to admit it, they probably shouldn't have fixed the damn thing when it was broken seventeen years ago. “What are we going to do about it now?” Because she knew that he definitely wasn't going to let this go.

Reinhardt let out another sigh before standing up. “Well, perhaps you would like to see Germany again...?”

\---

Torbjörn Lindholm sighed in exasperation as the television in his workshop went to commercial, and he let out a rumble. This was it. This was the reason why people shouldn't treat omnics as humans. The mental processors they were outfitted with could not possibly begin to handle itself like a real human brain, and treating them like they were people just made things worse in the long run. It was just like treating a dog like a child and wondering why it suddenly became territorial and out of control.

He began packing his things and ordering a ticket for Germany, because there really was only one option when a dog became feral.

You put the damn thing down.

\---

The next day was the bloodiest day in Germany ever since the Omnic crisis two decades ago. A homeless shelter was attacked with impunity, mostly with explosions, and twenty-four people were killed in the attack. The only three survivors had severe burns all over their bodies, and each one mentioned being blinded, laughter, and... hooting? There really was only one explanation. It must have been the crazed omnic. Fareeha Amari, hired by the German government to end everything as quickly as possible, arrived on the scene. She barely made it inside before she became sickened and enraged at the sight she was met with. Paramedics and coroners swarmed the blackened, exploded rooms, and they worked on identifying the bodies and sending them to the morgue. It was difficult to even identify them, however; everyone was practically unrecognizable. If they weren't covered from head to toe in burns, they were missing patches of flesh and hair as if they were dissolved straight off of their bodies. The ones who appeared to suffer the least were the ones who were missing their heads: they were blown straight open by a perfectly aimed rifle shot. One shot, one kill.

“Damn. Damn!” Fareeha hissed, her blood boiling at the mere sight. She wondered silently if this was how her mother's enemies felt when they saw her handiwork. ...Whatever the mercenary's feelings were, about her mother or herself, she knew she had to stop that psycho robot before he hurt any other innocent people. Just like her mother had to do during the omnic crisis...

...It was terrible to think that now a new crisis was erupting, one that would probably also be entered into the history books...

\---

Dr. Ziegler touched down in Germany only an hour after the news of the shooting hit the internet, and the woman, upon receiving the news, immediately set to the task of reaching out to the young omnic. It might have been impossible to let him off without some punishment (in fact, they'd probably shut him down permanently at this point, and perhaps other, innocent omnics as well), but if she could keep anyone else from being hurt... if she could defend one innocent person, she would have to try. She was able to send a single email to him, begging him to stop. “I understand what it's like to lose a loved one. My friends, my family. There's not a day that goes by that I don't miss them. Sometimes I want to give into my rage and anger, but Herr d'Caliber, I have fought it, and so can you. Please listen to me, you must fight it; together, we can make this right.”

She was given one reply. It was curt and emotionless; he sounded so much different than the kind young man she was in contact with only a few days ago. “There is nothing that can make this right. If I had not listened to you, I would not have asked my lady to leave home, and we would not have been attacked. If I had tried to help her become robotic, if you had helped her, she would have been hardy enough to survive the single blow to her head. It is your fault that my lady is broken, Dr. Ziegler. It is all your fault.”

He didn't reply to another word she sent, despite all of her repeated, desperate attempts to stay in contact. Finally, the good doctor gave up trying to get in touch with the furious, mourning omnic. She steeled herself and pushed on, straight to Stuttgart.

\---

For any normal person, tracking the onmic would have been fairly difficult, even though he wasn't necessarily hiding himself. However, anyone who knew the real reason the Hemsworth butler was fighting also knew where he would haunt, and that was around the park where he “learned” the life lesson that caused his radical change. At first Genji was afraid of letting his master out in the streets at a time like this, but they didn't have anything to fear from people who would hurt omnics; in fact, no one was out in the streets of Stuttgart at all. The military asked people to evacuate the area that the crazy omnic had been spotted in, and for the time being, there were very few people left in the area at all, much less ones that would be brave enough to wander the streets until they were sure that the sniper was shut down for good. “Master, do you honestly think this is wise?” Genji asked as they walked through the alleyways quietly, “I doubt he is the same omnic we met at the park.”

“There is always a piece of our heart that longs for peace and tranquility, even if we cannot find it on our own,” Zenyatta replied quietly as they crept through the alleyways together, “We will just do our best to bring that desire out of our friend.”

“But what if we cannot...?” Genji asked as they continued their walk, “What if he attacks you?”

“I trust your judgment,” Zenyatta replied resolutely, barely turning his head to glance at his pupil, “You will know if, and when, you must strike, as will I.”

As it was before and even now. Genji said little else as they walked into the middle of the park, which seemed desolate and dystopian without any children at play. The two men barely had time to scan the area before they were accosted by five robotic birds. They fluttered around the two, making robotic hoots every now and then. Zenyatta didn't even flinch when they trained their red laser sights on the interlopers, but Genji immediately pulled out his sword and drew into a combat stance. Zenyatta raised his hand, and a voice from atop a child's play tower helped to end any hostilities.

“Stand down little masters. They are not zee enemy.” Immediately the owls fluttered about and flew off in different directions, each to a strategic sentry point. Only one made it back to Marquis's side, where it landed on his right shoulder. The butler took a step out into the open, and the two omnics stared with suspicion at the rust-colored blood that covered the omnic. It appeared to be smeared all over his clothing and gloves, Genji noted, and wasn't splattered. This was not his victims' blood. “Herr Zenyatta. It is a pleasure to see you again.”

The omnic stepped forward slowly, his hands held up in prayer as he bowed, “Peace be with you, my friend. May we speak together?”

Marquis clacked his gold plated cane upon the ground, and Zenyatta noticed it sounded different than the last time they met. It must have been a different one, perhaps even made out of a different material, “There is no peace in this world. It has been taken and bludgeoned to death.” Genji narrowed his eyes; it wasn't very hard to figure out what the “peace” Marquis was referring to. “However, if vee speak from this location, I have no problem with communing with mein kind. Just know that if mein kinder,” he gestured to the four hooting owls that circled the area, “find any hobos skulking about, I will destroy them, and I will not worry about catching you in zee crossfire.” That was, if they decided to stay. “You have been warned.”

Genji looked at Zenyatta with a huff; he knew that Zenyatta would not want any innocents to be hurt and would probably try to stop Marquis if he attacked anyone. He would have to steel himself and prepare for the probability that he would have to defend not only his master, but any people that Marquis might attack.

Zenyatta ignored his pupil's huffiness and moved forward to speak to the Hemsworth butler, “Do you know how many people you killed? How many lives you snuffed? How many people who will never see their loved ones again?”

Marquis blinked his one eye, but didn't shift from leaning on his cane, “I know that two of them were members of zee group that assaulted mein fraulein. That is all I need to know.”

Zenyatta shook his head, “When will this endless cycle of hatred end? Killing humans will spark a war, and so many people, omnic, human... everyone will die.”

“You care about zee filth of this world...?” Marquis asked, as if he wasn't entirely sure if this was a joke or not, “They are nothing, fit only for ending. Cattle to breed and slaughter. Imperfect, stained, ugly...” The owl on his shoulder turned its head; the butler was trembling. “You would take *their* side? What do you get out of it? What do you *get*?”

“There is nothing *to* get,” Zenyatta replied, remembering an old friend, a brother, “We are all, human and machine, part of the greater soul. We are all one within the Iris. To harm another is the same as striking at your own hand. You are...”

Marquis interrupted the guru when the butler suddenly realized something and straightened even further, “...Where were you...?”

Zenyatta started for only a moment, “...Pardon...?”

“Where were you when vee were attacked?” Marquis asked, his tone rising, “Vee were attacked just over there, several meters away. Did you not hear zee shouts? Where were you!?”

Genji took a step forward when he saw the butler's body language change drastically. Zenyatta's head hung low, his hand over his chest, “I will live with that regret my whole life. I assumed that the two of you were having a spat and did not want to get between the two of you. ...It was my fault, and I- if I had just gone to check on the two of you, then perhaps...”

“You didn't come! You abandoned us! You are no better than zee human filth that *killed my lady*!” He let out a gut wrenching scream and pulled up his cane, and Genji cursed when he realized just why the cane had sounded different. *This one wasn't just a cane.*

Marquis, his left hand held tenderly behind his back, held his cane-rifle in his right hand and aimed it straight at Zenyatta, and Genji jumped into high gear, pulling his sword out and calculating where the bullet would come from, “Sensei, abunai!”

The rifle fired as Zenyatta ducked behind the cover of a building, and Genji parried the shot with an expert arm. However, the power of the rifle, combined with their close proximity, caused the cyborg to stumble to the ground for the first time in seventeen years. He growled and looked up at Marquis, who had already recovered from the recoil despite holding the weapon one-handed, who was aiming down his rifle's sight. Despite the stressed arm, the cyborg managed to roll out of the way of another shot, and the butler let out a frustrated growl, “Hold still, hobo!” he shouted, drawing his left hand to pull at his pocket watch, the same one that his lady had been holding that night. He flipped it open and trained his eye on the cyborg. “Where do you think you're off to?”

A large ring formed around the cyborg, and before Genji could stand, he saw what looked like the film of a bubble rise up, creating a dome around him. It was then that something seemed strange. The owls' wings flapped quicker than before, and they zoomed around the area with high pitched hooting. Even Marquis, who seemed to be much more laid-back in his movements, suddenly looked like a chipmunk on sugar, and it took Genji far too long before he realized that the butler had done some something screwy with time. Marquis attached his pocket watch to his breast and raised his cane in salute before aiming it at the cyborg's head...

...The butler let out a squeal when he was suddenly bombarded with multiple balls of energy, expertly thrown by Zenyatta. He was no longer fully conscious, but instead was in a wakeful dream achieved through his meditation. Zenyatta opened his mouth, and his voice seemed to reverberate through the entire park, “If you continue down this road, we will have no choice but to stop you.”

“Hoodini!” Marquis shouted, ignoring the guru's warning. He raised his rifle and pointed it the way a falconer might assign a target, “bring me back a trophy, ja?” The owl closest to the other omnic swerved its head and trained its one eye, now red, on Zenyatta. It began beeping just like a time bomb.

Zenyatta raised a hand to fire at the sentry owl, and his strikes clipped one of the wings. It veered a little bit but stayed mostly true, and the omnic let out a small sound that seemed like a gasp before the tiny robot let out one last squeak and then exploded next to Zenyatta's left hand side.

Genji let out a shout just as he broke through the time dome and saw the owl explode. He rushed through the smoke towards his master, grabbed Zenyatta's broken chassis, and dragged him into the alleyway. Marquis let out a curse when he fired into the wall, just barely missing the robots, and he hopped from the tower to find another place to hide out.

The cyborg, meanwhile, helped his master, chassis blackened and sparks sputtering from his neck, against the wall and inspected the damage, “Master, speak to me. What can I do...?”

Zenyatta turned his head ever so slowly, and he blinked his eyes just a half second out of sync, “I... will be fine,” he said slowly. “Wh-what about... you? You c-c-cannot face him... on your own...”

“He will be fine,” came a voice so familiar that Genji immediately looked up, knowing where the person would come from. Floating down like an angel was the Swiss doctor, Dr. Angela “Mercy” Ziegler, “I will be at his side.”

“I should have known that you wouldn't be far from a crisis like this,” Genji muttered, moving to check his master once more and letting out a relieved breath when he realized that Zenyatta was just going into “Sleep” mode, meditating and keeping himself generally safe. The cyborg looked up at the doctor before standing, “My master wished to try to stop him, but I think that monster is beyond saving.”

Mercy looked down at the blackened omnic, a wave of pity washing over her. “I think I understand,” she murmured, remembering his final words to her, “Shall we, then?”

“Be careful then,” Genji said, pulling out his shuriken, “We've lost him, so keep your head down and stay close to me.”

“That I can do,” Mercy replied easily, preparing her caduceus staff. There was nothing else to say; the two immediately set off up the walls of the city, hoping to catch him from above.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cutest thing ever is that in e-mails to Marquis in Battleborn, he is referred to as "Marquis Hemsworth-d'Caliber esq." He really was adopted by the family in BB, and that just sounds so adorable~ So yeah, some very minor background stuff about Marquis, and a little bit of showing off just how different omnics and magnuses are, if magnuses can be adopted like humans. Omnics got a long way to go before they get the same treatment.
> 
> Also  
> Friend: "All omnics deserve a chance, kouhai" - Zenyatta, immediately before getting sniped by Marquis


	5. Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marquis is not the omnic that Reinhardt knew, but that won't stop him from attempting to find that childish robot still hiding within.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, time for a good ol' 6v1. Naturally this really shouldn't be possible, even if Battleborn characters have naturally higher HP, and can deal more damage, than Overwatch ones, but really, with most of the combatants trying to talk some sense into him instead of fighting, it kinda evens out, I think. Well then, shall we see where this takes us?

Torbjörn hefted the scrap and bolts on his shoulder as he wandered through the alleyways of Stuttgart. He finally found where Lady Hemsworth was killed, and he knew that the culprit always returned to the scene of the crime. After passing through the alleyway, he looked up and spied the most peculiar sight: a flapping, flying owl robot hooted around a children's park. There could only be one reason for it; that owl must be from the crazed omnic. Just like omnics to try to reproduce, trying to be *human* when all they could create were these... *things*.

He set down the bag as quietly as he could, watching the owl with a scrutinizing eye, trying to see if there were any weaknesses to be found in them. He drew out his spanner, but the moment metal clacked on metal, the owl turned quickly and trained its red eye on the dwarf. Torbjörn looked up at the owl and they locked their (three) eyes on each other before the robot opened its beak and it let out an outrageously loud screech. Crapcrapcrap, it was obviously an alarm. He had to...

“Well well well...!” Torbjörn looked up at the roof above him, and the robotic butler clacked his cane on the ground while rubbing his titanium chin protrusion, “Has zee peasant rebellion finally started?”

“You're the one who's causing all of this!” Torbjörn hissed, turning to face the omnic.

“Eyyyyuuuuchhh!!” Marquis shouted, recoiling in horror at the man's face, “Was ist das!? Is that a *badger* on your face?” He stroked his protrusion once again, “I-is that a *beard*!? That is horrifying! Nothing at all like mein eternally trimmed vahn!”

That ugly little chin protrusion was supposed to be a *beard*? The Hemsworths really *were* crazy if they thought that could pass for facial hair. Nevertheless, this wasn't about beards, really. Torbjörn grabbed at his bag and tossed it back over his shoulder before retreating to find a better place to...

A bullet slammed into the ground right in front of his feet, and he whirled to look up at Marquis's cane-rifle. To be perfectly honest, that thing was... one of the gaudiest, worst weapons he ever had the misfortune of setting his eyes on. “Well then, badger hobo,” the omnic said, bringing his left hand out from behind his back. Torbjörn's eyes narrowed, noticing that it was stuck in one position. He must have done a shoddy repair job on himself. It was his biggest weakness; no wonder he used one hand to fire that terrible thing. Marquis used his broken claw-like hand to grasp at his pocket watch, and he opened it with a “click!” “You're out of time!”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” A voice rang out from above. Rocketing up above the buildings, Fareeha “Pharah” Amari came soaring through the sky, bearing down on the omnic like a hawk, “Justice rains from...”

“Go for the eyes, Hoodini!” Marquis shouted, and the owl screamed past him up to the mercenary. Pharah aimed her rockets to sweep through and strike both the owl and the omnic, but Hoodini opened his wings and let out a bright flash that caused the woman to let out an enraged shout, and her rockets missed their mark. They flew every which way, blowing up not only the owl, but a lot of the surrounding area. A few windows across the block exploded and sent glass everywhere. Marquis, meanwhile, decided to exit stage right, jumping from rooftop to rooftop before tucking his cane under his armpit and sliding down a pipe, eventually disappearing into another alleyway.

Torbjörn watched as the mercenary dropped to the ground with a hiss, clawing at her helmet and cursing deeply, “I will tear out his servos one by one...” she growled before finally realizing that she did indeed save someone. Once she found she could see again, she looked down at the man and realized that not only was this *not* a child, but she recognized this man. “Leave this place, Uncle, before you get hurt.”

“I should tell you to get off the battlefield before you destroy anymore property...” Torbjörn muttered, looking up at the destroyed windows a little ways away. “You definitely have a lot more to learn before you can stand with us. Shoulda listened to your mother, sprout.” That made Pharah twitch in rage, and she turned to glare at the dwarf.

Before Pharah could retort, however, another person approached in clanking armor that both of them recognized, “Come now, old friend, let zee young blood whet zeir blades as well.” Torbjörn looked up and smiled at the newcomer, moving forward to clasp his hand in Reinhardt's. “It's good to see you again, my friend.”

“Where have you been, Reinhardt, and what have you *done* with my armor?” he gasped, looking at the cuts and scratches all over the armor that he spent so long to forge, “Has that squire of yours learned *nothing* about repairs?”

“Brigitte has done amazing work taking care of it,” Reinhardt replied, “Zee fault is mine, and I apologize.”

Torbjörn snorted, a little angrily, but he crossed his arms and looked between Reinhard and Pharah, “I noticed his weakness. You should attack from the left hand side. His eye's on the right, and his hand is broken on that side; he can't respond as quickly if you go from there.”

“But what about the owl sentries? They'll be able to see us regardless,” Pharah said, crossing her arms.

“Then take them out, I don't care!” Torbjörn grumbled, glaring up at the young woman for her insubordination, “Don't ask questions, just go from the side where he can't respond as quickly.”

Reinhardt watched amiably while Pharah and Torbjörn continued to snap at each other, waiting until he could get a word in: “Don't you zink we can flank him? Pharah, try zee left, and I'll go right. Torbjörn, make sure we have a base to return to if we need to retreat.”

“Retreat...!” Pharah scoffed. As if there was any time when retreat was necessary. She opened her mouth, but the stance that Reinhardt gave her, to replace a stern look from behind his mask, gave her pause. She snorted and looked away, “Let's just find him, and be careful of those owls.”

“Right behind you, let's stay in sight of each other,” he replied, jogging off with a deep breath. Pharah turned to glance at Torbjörn, who set himself down to start up his turret and keep a place to protect for Reinhardt to return to. He looked up at her, snorted, and went back to his work. It was then that Pharah lifted off and followed above Reinhardt, determined to protect him for her mother's sake.

\---

Mercy scanned the area for anything amiss while Genji watched her back, and the two turned back to each other with a soft sigh, “Nothing,” she said, “I can't find any...”

“Justice rains from-”

“Go for the eyes, Hoodini!” the shouts from across the way kicked both the doctor and the cyborg into high gear, and they rushed to the edge of the rooftop to see Pharah's rockets miss their intended target and Marquis rush off after blinding his attacker.

“After him!” Genji called, moving to charge after the omnic before he could disappear again.

“But what if anyone got hurt from the glass!?” Mercy cried, reaching out to take Genji's shoulder and keep him from running off. The cyborg shrugged her hand off and glared at her for a moment before darting off. “Are you serious?” she muttered, attaching to Genji and shooting off after him as they both dropped into the alleyway to catch Marquis unawares.

Unfortunately, he already assumed that he was being followed, and the moment Genji landed, he had to pull up his sword to block not one, but two rifle shots. He gasped as he fell backwards into Mercy's arms, and the doctor called down the alley, “Herr d'Caliber, please, listen to me!”

“There is nothing to listen to! You save zee lives of people only when it is convenient for you! You don't think I can't tell what your little *friend* really is!?”

Genji pushed off of Mercy and shouted back, “I didn't ask for this! How could anyone say this was 'convenient'!?”

“Mein fraulein lies *broken* and stolen from me, and you do not think that I would give *anything* to see her again!?” Marquis screamed, shooting his rifle straight into the air three times, “What would you do if someone hurt your brother? Your *master*? Zee 'Good Doctor' did nothing to save Phoebe, and you could take this *murderer's* side? Zee humans' side!?”

“This wasn't what any of us wanted,” Mercy pled, reaching out to the pitiful omnic, “It's been far too long, my nanomachines can only do so much. Her body has deteriorated too much to be of any use, and even then...” If she made a mistake... like last time... _You save zee lives of people only when it is convenient for you!_ To save more innocents... she hadn't even brought up saving Lady Hemsworth until it came down to stopping Marquis's rampage... perhaps she only *did* save people when it was convenient for her... “She is *gone*, Herr d'Caliber, and the first part of becoming sentient is learning when to accept the agony of loss...”

“He won't listen,” a voice came from behind the omnic. Pharah and Reinhardt stood behind Marquis, trapping him in the alleyway. Marquis froze when he realized just what situation he found himself in: caught, trapped in an alleyway, by people who would do him harm. By people who would do him-her, his lady, Lady Phoebe, harm. They would kill her. They *did* kill her.

“Filthy hobos, zee lot of you,” Marquis said, reaching up to open his pocket watch, “I will excise this filth from this world... Hoodini!” Genji and Mercy looked up at the two Hoodinis that had been nesting just above them in the fire escape, and Marquis clicked his temporal watch to catch them in one more temporal distortion. “You two have trained your whole short lives for this moment!”

“Marquis, remember zee time we spent! Remember when we would have tea togezer!” Reinhardt called as the omnic whirled around and raised his cane-rifle, “Remember who you are! Zhis isn't you!”

Pharah pushed past the knight with a shout, “He's not going to listen! He's...” she stopped when the cane began screeching as it went into overdrive, and Reinhardt grabbed the woman and pulled her back.

“Hide!” he shouted as he thrust her behind a wall before jumping to the other side. Marquis pointed his rifle at the wall where Pharah disappeared, and the butler began to load “WALLHAX.EXE”.

\---

Genji and Mercy looked up at the Hoodinis as they lifted off unnaturally quickly and began soaring down upon the two. Mercy watched as their clawed feet revealed small holes for firing bullets upon the two, and Genji cursed; he knew he wouldn't be able to block these bullets in this slowing field.

“Oh god...!” Mercy whispered as she felt a crawling sensation all over her skin. Whatever this thing was, this time distortion thing was pulling at her nanomachines. She had them care for her cells, but to stop the flow of time in her body... the temporal distortion was tearing her apart even faster than the machines could rebuild her, and she could feel herself melting into nothing... “Oh god, oh god!”

“Stay with me!” Genji shouted, ignoring the pain as he felt the skin melt from what was left of his face, “Mercy, we need you!”

“No! No! I can't- What *IS* this!?” Mercy screamed as the Hoodinis began firing upon the two of them. Genji braced for the impact...

...When a familiar presence filled the entire area, and an orb of harmony hovered around his head, keeping him safe and healed even as the bullets slammed into his chassis. Mercy was hit as well, but the orb switched to her quickly as none other than Zenyatta joined them in the temporal distortion. “Master...!” Genji said, in awe of the meditating, fractured, but not broken, omnic guru.

Zenyatta said nothing in reply, but held his hands up and spoke in a thousand voices at once, “My friends, Gaze Into The Iris.”

Genji took a few steps back and reached out for Mercy, taking her and bringing them both down to their knees. The tranquility and peace that radiated from Zenyatta seemed to destroy the deadly time bubble that they were trapped in, and the three of them were safe from being torn apart.

That just left the Hoodinis, who immediately locked onto Zenyatta, the closest target. He didn't flinch to look at them, knowing how far away they were simply from being so close to the very fabric of the universe. The owls descended upon the omnic, but he simply floated in front of Genji and Mercy, defending them from the beeping, hooting Hoodinis. There was nothing to fear; they would soon pass on as many others had. When the robots exploded, the flames were devoured before they could even lick at the omnic's chassis, while every piece of shrapnel was also, amazingly, sent in every direction *except* towards the former members of Overwatch.

Genji stood as the temporal dome disappeared, and he rushed to inspect his master, “Sensei, daijoubu?”

“Daijoubudesu,” came every voice from every living thing, all at once, in the one, tiny voice of Zenyatta, “...And you?”

The moment they entered a normal time, the two heard an insane cackle, the kind that would send chills down any normal person's spine. Mercy looked up at Marquis as he held his bowler hat to keep it from flying off as the energy of a thousand elephant guns pooled in the rifle's trigger, “No use hiding, sirs!” he shouted as Pharah lifted off. He trained on her as if he could see straight through the wall, and he released the pent up energy that fired straight from the rifle. The blast was so huge that it hit the wall Pharah was hiding behind and *kept going*. Reinhardt looked at the woman as she turned back in incredulity, and he let out a shout when the blast connected, and the rockets within her suit all exploded.

“Fareeha!!” Reinhardt roared as Pharah dropped to the ground amid Marquis's maniacal laugh. Mercy took off and flew over the omnic as the butler held his hat and threw his head back for the heartiest laugh he had ever produced in his entire life.

“They said I was mad!!” he screamed into the sky, remembering all of the maids, the tutors, the butlers, the gardeners, that he chased from his home, “I suppose THEY WERE RIGHT!! AHUHEHAHAHAHUHEHE!!”

“Fareeha, speak to me, Fareeha!!” Mercy shouted, pulling the mask from the woman's head and frowning instinctively at the smell of burnt flesh and hair. She stood, raising her staff, and she shook her head, “Come back to me Fareeha! You shouldn't have to meet your mother yet! Heroes...” She didn't even register the tear that fell down her cheek, “...Heroes should *never* die!”

Reinhardt let out a relieved sigh when Pharah sucked in a sudden gasp of air, and he lifted his hammer to look at the screeching omnic... How could something so quaint, so small, so innocent, turn out so wrong...? How could this have gone so *wrong*...?

\---

_Reinhardt stared at the omnic as it fumbled a moment (from Phoebe yanking on him) before standing up straight and holding his hands smartly, his right hand on his breast and his left one behind his back. “Greetings, my lord. My name is Marquis d'Caliber, and it would be my pleasure to serve you.”_

_Reinhardt's eyes darted to Phoebe, whose eyes sparkled brighter than any time he saw her, and they zipped back up to the butler omnic before him. “Isn't he *amazing*!?” Phoebe squealed, making Reinhardt's heart melt at the sight of her adoration, “He's my butler buddy Mister Markee!”_

_\---_

“ _Yeah! Let's have a party together, today! A *tea* party!” Phoebe took Marquis's gloved hand and dragged him along behind her, despite his protestations._

“ _Young miss, please! I am not used to balancing at this angle...!” he whined as he flailed rather spectacularly, just before the girl released him and ordered him to sit. He looked around at Bartlesby, who probably would have popped a monocle, had he one, and Reinhardt smiled amiably at the omnic, happy to see a young, well developing machine even after a mere year after being activated. Finally, the omnic set himself down at the table and calmly, if not worriedly, placed his folded hands on the table. “...I apologize, I have not brought everyone's tea...”_

_\---_

_Phoebe showed remorse for her actions, “Mister Markee! D-does it hurt? I'm s-so sorry if I hurt you...!” she blubbered. It made Reinhardt's heart break to hear her cries, and when her butler's one eye moved to train on her, the old man was surprised to see just how much life was in it, despite the damage done to his chassis._

“ _Hurt-t-t?” He asked just before another spasm sent a few sparks out of his shoulder._

_Bartlesby made sure to remind his little daughter of the way the world worked, “You must be careful, dear, titanium is light, but it's really easy to crush like this. Thankfully, as a robot, he doesn't feel-”_

\---

Titanium! He was made of titanium! Reinhardt took a deep breath and slammed a foot to the floor, interrupting the omnic from his laughter. “Herr d'Caliber. I will never forget our time togezer. Zhat young, wide eyed child I knew so long ago may be lost to me, but he will live on in my memories.”

“Come now, Herr Wilhelm! What can you do?” Marquis asked, cocking his head, “I am sure there is something zee elderly are good for... OH! I know! Gardening mulch! Ahaha, I'll be RICH!” He pointed his rifle at the man, “This might sting a bit, but I promise I'll give you a lollipop AFTER YOU'RE DEAD! AHAHAHAHA!!”

Wherever that childish, beautiful Marquis was, he was not here now. Reinhardt jumped only a few centimeters in the air before his rocket boosters started up, and he barreled straight towards the omnic. Marquis let out a gasp of surprise and fired as soon as he could. The bullet struck true, into Reinhardt's shoulder, but he didn't even flinch as he rocketed straight into the butler and slammed his hammer directly into Marquis's chest. The omnic looked completely befuddled as the two of them slammed into the wall, and Reinhardt heard the gut wrenching sound of gears being crushed into a barely functional mess.

Zenyatta moved to inspect the old man's wound as Genji pulled him off of the butler. Reinhardt scrambled for his hammer, but soon found that there was no need to worry; Marquis was already stuck in place, sparking and unable to function on his own. “O-o-oh m-my...” he began, as if could not fathom what had just happened to him. That voice seemed so familiar that Reinhardt nearly pushed Zenyatta away to get closer to the omnic crushed under his hammer.

Mercy helped Pharah sit up as Torbjörn jogged up, coughing and sputtering from the jog. “I have some scrap if anyone needs any...” He watched as Reinhardt dropped onto his knees and took off his helmet.

“Herr d'Caliber... do you remember me?” he asked as Marquis's eye moved to inspect the person before him.

“Oh...! H-Herr-r-r Wilhelm! I-It has been far too long-long-long...” Marquis began, sounding the same as he had when they first met. He spasmed, but didn't let that deter him from being the very best butler he could be, “I will h-have to call mein... mein... mein...” He sparked and his gears screamed as he tried to use them, and Reinhardt reached out to stop him.

“Don't move! You can't possibly-!”

“Herr-r-r Wilhelm...! Mein Frau-frau-fraulein...! She... she...!” Marquis looked up at Reinhardt with a sad eye, “She is bro-broken. J-just like I-I-I am... It hurts...”

Zenyatta reached out to take Marquis's other shoulder and shake his head, “I know that your loss is painful, but she has...”

“No, No. No! Y-you don't understand-tand-tand...!” Marquis began, his voice rising, “I am *Nothing* without-out her...!”

“Finally, the most sane thing I've heard all day,” Torbjörn muttered, making Mercy nudge him with her staff and glare at him. Just *once*, could he shut his mouth?

It was about that moment that the last Hoodini, the one that had once settled on Marquis's shoulder, dropped from above and landed on him once again. Marquis sparked when he turned to look at his owl, and his servos squealed when he tried, and failed, to reach up and pet the creature, “Ahhh, H-H-Hoodini. Mk... f-f-f-f-fifty-seven-ven-ven, was it? Thank you for your-r-r assistance-ce-ce... Just, vahn more thing-g-gkkgg-gk...”

“He's getting worse...!” Zenyatta said, worry apparent in his voice.

“Herr d'Caliber, don't talk! We're going to do what we can to...”

“Let m-m-me see mein fraulein-lein... Vahn more t-t-time...” Hoodini cocked his head, and Reinhardt let out a shout when the creature began to tick.

“Move it, RUN!” he shouted at those still in the alley. Genji didn't even bother to see if Zenyatta could make it on his own; the cyborg grabbed his master and rushed him out of the alleyway as Reinhardt picked up his hammer and made a break for it. Mercy placed Pharah down so she could jump up and heal the group as the explosion threw them out of the alleyway.

The rubble fell all over the people as Reinhardt grumbled loudly and struggled to sit up. Genji and Zenyatta immediately made sure that neither were in too much pain, and everyone turned to look at what was left of the charred alleyway. There was not much left of Marquis that was recognizable, just his bowler hat, a cracked monocle, and a broken voice box that was stuck hooting on repeat. Zenyatta choked back a sob that came out as a resigned sigh, and Pharah reached out to grab at her helmet with a scoff.

As the doctor began patching up everyone with a forlorn sigh of her own, Torbjörn moved to check the body for any shrapnel that could be used as scrap. Zenyatta gasped and stood quickly, looking across at the dwarf, “What are you doing...?” he demanded, his tone accusatory.

Torbjörn scoffed and muttered to himself, “Why should I answer to a damn robot?” before he turned around and growled back, “What are you even doing here? Just go back to wherever the hell you *things* stay.” He then turned and began working on his salvage job as Genji stood next to his master, “Ugh, There's barely any scrap; you really did a number on it, Reinhardt.”

“I'm so sorry...” the knight said to the pieces of the butler that managed to land next to him.

“It was a compliment, you idiot!” the dwarf shouted, grumbling about his friends being crazy.

“There wasn't anything you could do at that point, Reinhardt,” Mercy said softly as she pulled the bullet from his flesh and looked up at him, “We all did what we could, but he just wasn't the Marquis we knew.”

“But he was...!” Reinhardt insisted, letting the pain from his impromptu surgery get released in his anger against himself, “Just before he died, he acted just like the omnic I knew. We could have...!”

“That was a survival instinct it picked up at some point, most likely,” Torbjörn said matter-of-factually as he tossed another piece into his bag. Reinhardt let out a disparate groan and his friend snorted in reply. He then picked up the pocket watch that Marquis had used before in the battle. Somehow it was still mostly intact, although upon closer inspection, the gears and inner workings had all melted together, and the dwarf let out a curse, “I coulda reverse engineered this, too. Damn!”

“That thing tore peoples' flesh from their bodies!” Mercy called, her fear apparent in her voice as she continued, “Thank goodness that omnic is gone; he won't be able to create any more machines for murder!” Torbjörn simply scoffed and continued to see if there was anything salvageable from the item.

Reinhardt stood and tested his newly healed wound. “If it's worthless to you and not dangerous anymore, may I have it...?” Torbjörn turned and looked up at his friend. With a snort and a nod, he placed it in Reinhardt's hand, and the knight lifted and looked at it curiously. “It might be one of the few things I can have to remember him by, even if they will be mostly negative memories.”

Pharah wasn't sure how he could mourn someone who, just moments ago, tried to kill him, and Torbjörn couldn't understand how he could mourn *any* sort of machine, omnic or no, but with the way Reinhardt reached out and caressed the watch softly, they figured it was best not to push him.

“Thanks for the good work, doctor,” the dwarf said, shaking Mercy's hand before waving to Pharah and Reinhardt. “I got some work to do, you have fun cleaning this mess up.” He then moved to head back home.

“Well, he hasn't changed at all from how I remember him,” Genji muttered, feeling quite furious.

“...I have a previous engagement I'm actually late for,” Mercy began, “Honestly, I took a detour coming here, so I'll have to apologize for disappearing like I did.” She then looked over and turned to speak to Pharah, “Will you not get in trouble for the damage we caused...?”

The Egyptian looked up at the corner of the building that had been blasted apart, and she gulped. “Ehhh, I'm sure they'll just be happy no one else died,” she replied with a resigned look. It soon turned into a fearful one when Mercy's face paled.

“I didn't check to see if that glass hurt anyone!” she cried, immediately charging off past the others, who watched her incredulously. Pharah took a small moment to realize that maybe she should help her friend, “W-wait, Dr. Ziegler! May I be of assistance?” she called, right on the doctor's heels.

That just left Zenyatta, Genji, and Reinhardt, who quickly began moving away from the wreckage before people started coming out to see just what went on. As they slunk away, heads down to keep anyone from catching them, Zenyatta watched as Reinhardt cradled the watch tenderly, and the omnic moved forward to address the giant man, “Will you be okay, Herr Wilhelm?”

Reinhardt jumped when he realized that someone was speaking to him, and he turned to look down at Zenyatta with an embarrassed, red face. “Ahh... I-I think so. ...It's just hard not to see him as the child I knew all those years ago.”

Zenyatta nodded softly. “I understand what you mean. He seemed so excited to learn everything about his people after being sheltered for so long. ...If things were different... if I had been more proactive, perhaps...” He dropped his head, looking and feeling like everything that happened was his fault.

Genji didn't want his master to take the whole burden, however. “Master, wasn't it you who taught me not to dwell in the past?” he asked, moving to look at the guru, “Some terrible things might have happened, but now those two siblings are together now, wherever that might be. Perhaps this is the best we could hope for.” Given the circumstances, after all.

Zenyatta let out a thoughtful hum. “Perhaps you are right, my pupil. ...My only hope is that their spirits remain together, across space and time.” He looked up at the mostly melted watch, and he let out a sigh, “Let's just hope that their relationship is a little more stable next time.”

“I'll drink to that,” Reinhardt said, smiling at the omnic and cyborg. ...Looking at their faces, as well as thinking about the reason they were together, suddenly brought to mind just what happened, and the events of that day came crashing over him all at once. “And speaking of drinking, I really do need to have about five pints.”

The cyborg crossed his arms and gestured towards the omnic, “The one thing I am so sorry you'll never experience, master, is the taste of a good brew,” Genji said appreciatively, “Down one for me, Wilhelm-san.”

The knight gave his friend a solemn bow and a small, sad smile, “Will do, Shimada. Will do.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it! Thanks so much everyone, for going through with me until the end! It was an incredibly fun ride, and it really helped me appreciate more of both of the worlds a little more. Feel free to tell me what you thought of it, what you thought worked and didn't work, things like that.
> 
> Also:  
> Baknami: “Shoulda listened to your mother, sprout.”  
> Baknami: MIC. DROP.  
> Friend: LMAO  
> Friend: JESUS CHRIST  
> Baknami: Torbjorn much better at BURNS than bullets :V:V:V:V:V  
> Friend: So torb is the villain now I take it  
> Friend: Cause wow


End file.
